US Vice President Mike Pence had a somewhat inauspicious start to his visit to Ireland after he shared images of his meeting with the Irish President Michael D. Higgins accompanied by… the Ivory Coast flag.
“Thank you President Higgins and Mrs. Higgins for the warm welcome!” Pence said in a tweet that contained the flag faux pas.
Twitter users were quick to spot the blunder but it took several hours for the VP’s social media team to delete it. “Ah lad's you do realise that’s the flag of the Ivory Coast you got up there not the Irish one,” one commenter wrote, echoing the thoughts of vexillologists the world over.
Another eagle eyed user even spotted that, Democrat presidential candidate, Elizabeth Warren’s book was visible on the Irish President’s bookcase as he met the leading Republican.
Having arrived Monday, Pence opted to stay in US President Donald Trump’s golf resort on the west coast of Ireland, despite the fact that all of his official meetings were taking place in the capital on the opposite side of the country.
Pence will reportedly fly on Air Force Two the 117 miles from Shannon airport to Dublin every day before he eventually leaves for London on Thursday.
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